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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · face · pop · arm · spring · key · wind · jam

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pop — music
  4. face — to confront
  5. face — part of the head
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. key — in music
  8. key — for a lock
  9. spring — the season
  10. pop — to visit
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. cold — an illness
  14. key — the most important part
  15. spring — a coil
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. pop — soda
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. wind — moving air
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. spring — of water

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com